OBI-WAN KENOBI: That boy is our last hope.

YODA: No. There is another.

-The Empire Strikes Back

Previously on Fallen

The doors to Jade's office had barely closed before they were practically welded together. But Starkiller wasn't as… expressive as he normally was. All of his movements seemed slower, as though he were weighed down by something terrible.
"Mara…" he whispered her seldom-used surname.
"It's okay," she whispered.
Both of them felt tense as they slowly let their guards down for each other. This wasn't the intense, but ultimately meaningless, physical relationship it had been at first. Over the years, they had grown to really care for each other in ways they were not at liberty to show to the outside world.
"We don't have much time," Starkiller told her, almost apologetically. "My father having Leia killed without consulting me means he's distancing himself from me, which can only mean one thing… he'll be coming for me soon."
There was very real fear in Starkiller's eyes as he said this, and Jade shivered. "Maybe you'll defeat him," she suggested, with more optimism than she actually felt, "and this will all be for naught."
"Yeah," Starkiller agreed, though his voice betrayed the same lack of faith. "Maybe."

"We haven't met," Starkiller began calmly, "but I'm certain you're aware of who I am."
"Oh yeah, I know all about you," Anakin answered coldly. "You're only the second most evil man in the galaxy."
Starkiller smiled icily in reply. "Perhaps."
"Let's just skip the veiled threats and move right to the explicit threats," Anakin suggested. "What do you want from me?"
"To make you stronger," Starkiller answered, to Anakin's shock. "To make you capable of killing my father. Or me, if you have to. To put a stop to all of this."

"You're going to have to decide, you know," Jade noted. "He's far enough in his training that it's going to start to matter."
"All I've ever seen is failed Jedi training. My training. The descriptions of my father's training from Obi-Wan and my father. When they mess up, they seem to mess up pretty bad. It might be better just to start him off as a Sith to begin with."
"And do you honestly think a Sith can save the galaxy?"
Starkiller gave her a hurt look. "I thought that's what I was doing."
Jade's reply was a silent stare, but the implication was obvious. Are you sure you're a Sith?

Anakin understood, but he did not surrender himself as his uncle had.
"I'm sorry," he said, and meant it. But with the newly discovered power of the Force he called his uncle's old lightsaber to his hand and ignited it.

xxx

Fallen

xxx

Darth Starkiller; Sith Lord (male human from Tatooine)

Anakin Solo; Rogue Leader (male human from Hapes)

Mara Jade; Bounty Hunter's Guild Headmistress (female human from Coruscant)

Darth Vader; Sith Lord (male human from Tatooine)

Zekk; Bounty Hunter (male human from Coruscant)

Alema Rar; Bounty Hunter (female Twi'lek from Ryloth)

xxx

There Is Another

"You fool!" Jade shouted at the boy. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Someone has to put a stop to this," Anakin answered firmly, gripping the green lightsaber in both hands. "The galaxy is trapped in a vicious cycle. And I'm going to put a stop to it."

"Then stop it," Starkiller answered calmly, igniting his own red lightsaber. "But when you attack me, do so with complete calm. No anger. No fear. Otherwise you'll end up just like my father and I, and the cycle will continue."

Not heeding his words, Anakin charged forward and put all his force behind an aggressive blow leveled at his uncle's midsection. Starkiller effortlessly parried, holding his blade with only one hand, and Anakin was pushed off balance.

"Control," Starkiller chastised. "You will never rid the galaxy of me charging at me like a krayt dragon in heat."

Gritting his teeth in anger, Anakin swung wildly again and again at the older man, forcing him to back away, but Starkiller remained in control, effortlessly batting away Anakin's more aggressive strikes.

Starkiller finally stepped towards one of Anakin's attacks, raising his blade in a two-handed grip, and stopped Anakin's attack cold, briefly forcing their blades to lock.

"My father and I both started with the best of intentions," Starkiller continued calmly, as though they were not currently engaged in a life-or-death struggle. "He wanted to save his wife. I wanted to save him. We both wanted to save the galaxy. But our emotions overcame our intentions. We became agents of evil."

Anakin managed to free his blade, but the battle continued at the same pace. Slash, parry. Slash, parry. Nothing could break Starkiller's maddening calm. Anakin's attacks continued to be erratic, Starkiller's defense robotically efficient.

"The Jedi are not like the Sith," Starkiller resumed. "They are passive, and allow the Force to guide their actions. You must be serene."

Anakin pressed the attack, but this time his movements felt more natural, more fluid. Unforced.

"Good," Starkiller complimented, though he still effortlessly blocked each strike. "You're learning control."

"It feels more like I'm being controlled," Anakin complained.

"That's the Jedi way," Starkiller told him. "They are passive, and allow the force to work through them. The Sith try to control the Force, try to control nature. The backlash is what warps them."

Somewhere along the line, it had stopped being a real fight. Anakin wasn't sure when the change occurred, but by the time Starkiller stepped back and switched his saber off, Anakin had no desire to kill the man he had seen as an enemy for his entire life. Instead, he switched his saber off as well, and caught his breath.

This impromptu training session was also the first that hadn't ended with Anakin either disarmed or on the ground.

"Good," Starkiller complimented. "Guildmistress Jade… I think we can trust him not to run away if we move him out of his sell." His eyes never left Anakin's as he addressed Jade. "I think he realizes he needs us as much as we need him."

"How can you train me to be a Jedi?" Anakin asked, still breathing rapidly. "How can I trust you to do that?"

"You'll likely not have heard of Yoda. He was the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order long before I was born, and possibly the single greatest Jedi Master who ever lived. He gave me all the training needed to become a Jedi Knight. All that was left was the final test." Starkiller smiled sadly. "I failed. Obviously."

"So…"

"So I can give you all the training you need, Anakin. Up until the final test that makes you a Jedi, without which everything else is meaningless. And on that front, I am afraid I can offer you nothing. You must succeed where I failed, or the galaxy is doomed."

xxx

Back in Jade's chamber, Starkiller held her in his arms more tenderly than he ever had before.

"You're starting to get soft," Jade commented, though she made no move to extricate herself from his arms. "That's not good."

"It doesn't matter. I'm not going to be the one to defeat my father. The only way I know is the dark way. And then we'd be right back where we started."

"Sometimes I think you don't give yourself enough credit," Jade chided. "Maybe—"

"This is the way it has to be, Mara," Starkiller answered with conviction. "This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I have to give Anakin a chance to do what I couldn't do."

"But you'll die!" Jade protested.

"Probably," Starkiller conceded.

"Luke—"

And he pulled her close and kissed her more tenderly than he ever had before. Because he knew that very soon, they would kiss for the last time.

"You're going to need to be strong, too, Mara," Starkiller continued apologetically. "When I'm gone, you're going to have to protect him until he's strong enough to fight Vader."

"I don't know if I can do it," Jade admitted.

"You have to. No one else can."

They held each other close, and waited for their world to end.

xxx

Anakin recognized the boy who escorted him to his quarters from earlier. He was one of the two bounty hunters who had captured him and brought him to Myrkr. The one who had seemed way too nice to be a bounty hunter.

"This is your room," Zekk said as they stepped into a chamber not much larger than the cell Anakin had previously occupied, though much more comfortably furnished. "I know it's not much…" Zekk added apologetically.

"It's great," Anakin answered with sarcastic enthusiasm, causing the other boy to laugh. "I'm a fighter pilot for the Rebel Alliance. I'm not exactly used to having my own room at all, you know?"

"I guess that makes sense," Zekk agreed. He smiled – something he seemed to do an awful lot of for a bounty hunter. "I guess we come from similar backgrounds after all."

"I wouldn't go that far," Anakin answered darkly.

Anakin hopped onto the bed and found it unyielding, but that worked for him. "I'm afraid we were never properly introduced."

"No, we weren't, Commander Solo," Zekk agreed with a slight smile.

"You have me at a disadvantage, then," Anakin pointed out. "All I know you by is Zekk."

Zekk didn't exactly frown, but his smile lessened in intensity. "That's all anyone knows me by."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

Zekk's expression brightened again. "Don't be," he reassured Anakin. "I don't have any regrets about how I've lived my life. And it's not like I don't have choices. Zekk Jade, because the Headmistress has been like a mother to me? Zekk Veila, because Tahiri has been like a sister?"

Anakin grew suddenly pensive at the mention of Tahiri.

"Oh, right." Zekk shook his head. "Have I not managed to convince you that bounty hunters aren't all bad?"

"She still lied to me," Anakin pointed out.

Zekk smiled sadly. "Can't you understand how hard it must have been for her?"

"I guess we'll have a lot to talk about," Anakin answered heavily. "If I ever see her again."

xxx

Starkiller gasped and sat up abruptly.

"What is it?" Jade asked from beside him.

"He's here."

Jade and Starkiller looked into each other's eyes for what they both knew would be their last moments together.

"Take Anakin," Luke instructed in resignation. "And go."

He started to turn away, but Jade caught him by the arm. "Skywalker."

Their eyes met again, and everything that had remained unspoken for so long suddenly slipped out.

"I love you."

"I love you, too," Starkiller answered hoarsely, holding back his tears. "Now go!"

xxx

Because it is very difficult to miss a Super Star Destroyer entering a system, Lord Vader had ordered the Executor to drop out of hyperspace just outside of the Myrkr system. From there, he had taken his personal shuttle, which was now touching down quietly outside of the Bounty Hunter's Guild facility. Thus far, there was no sign of alarm from within the facility.

Flanked by stormtroopers of the famed 501st, Vader exited the shuttle and approached the facility. A Twi'lek female approached from within the facility, holding her hands open to show that she wasn't armed. As Vader approached, she knelt before him.

"My Lord," the Twi'lek greeted, her eyes downcast.

"Shall we take her into custody, sir?" one of the stormtroopers asked.

"I am but a bounty hunter, my Lord," Alema pled. "But I can lead you to whomever it is you seek. I have but one humble request."

Vader finally spoke, and his voice was terrifying. "I have little patience for the requests of traitors, helpful though they might be."

"I ask only that you leave me the boy," Alema insisted. "In exchange for my assistance."

"We will take what we need with or without your help, bounty hunter," Vader answered coldly. "If you choose to help us, your payment will be to keep your pitiful life."

If it was possible, Alema shrank lower to the ground. "My Lord."

xxx

As it happened, Alema did not need to lead Vader very far at all. His apprentice – his son – stood waiting for him in the very first corridor.

"Welcome to Myrkr, Lord Vader," his son greeted calmly.

"Lord Starkiller," Vader greeted.

The younger man's lightsaber sprang to life with a snap-hiss, and there was a different look in his eyes as he looked up at his father. "No. That's not who I am anymore. My name is Luke Skywalker."

To Be Continued